


Ink, sweat and Kaidan

by NevaRYadL



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Frottage, M/M, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 12:52:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1267273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NevaRYadL/pseuds/NevaRYadL
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He always did wonder about Shepard's tattoos...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ink, sweat and Kaidan

**Author's Note:**

> ...I have no excuses. I have a massive tattoo kink and needed to let it out.
> 
> Anyways, Kaidan Alenko/Custom Male Shepard. Tattoo kinks. Terribly written frottage. Terrible all around actually.

He always wondered about Shepard’s tattoos.

They were a beautiful collage across his skin, of things both old and new, of things of so many colors, pretty to grotesque, so many things that marked the hero’s skin.

He had first seen them in their youth, a brief moment when he had happened upon a group of Alliance future marines training. Shepard was stripped to the waist, running a track with a few others. And it had been almost hypnotizing watching the heavily tattooed skin move with each minute movement, sweat making the images pop in a strange 3D effect. It took until Shepard was done running and throwing on a shirt for the spell to break and for him to un-comfortably walk away.

It took a few years to put the name to the body, and he was only able to when Shepard was put to the challenge of out doing Garrus and Grunt in physical fitness. The commander had stripped out of his armored-suit and then out of his shirt, revealing the tattoos that marked him from his neck down into his pants. And then he was hypnotized again, watching Shepard’s muscle move with almost perfect fluidity as he tried to out do the two aliens in push-ups, sit ups, arm wrestling, and grappling. In the end, Shepard only won the sit-ups because human anatomy, but he had been hypnotized by those beautiful tattoos none the less.

He wondered if he could make himself ask Shepard about those tattoos. They seemed to tell a story that Shepard did not want to tell. Such a barrage of images that somehow managed to work together in a chaotic mess of beauty. He could make out images that were slightly blurred and colors that were slightly dulled with time and age, images that were crisp and sharper, and colors that were bright and vivid with newness. Like he just kept adding them over the years, or perhaps he had added a lot to cover up something old.

But he never could, there was just something about Shepard that made it hard to not get flustered or awed in his presence, and just relished in the length of tattoos that he could see. The strange flora from Shepard’s elbow to his wrist, the small glances when Shepard’s collar slipped down to reveal the silver, browns, copper and greys of machinery, or when his shirt rode up.

And then Shepard was torn from his life for two long years, and he did not want to think about those tattoos again. He did not to think of the good laughs, the shared stories, he did not want to think about that warm smile, nor those green eyes. He did not want to think about that inviting voice, he did not want to think about the smell of a hard working marine and metal. He did not want to think about his lost friend.

He thought he had gotten over it, that he had put it all behind him. It took him so long to simply rip it all away and throw it behind him, to run almost blindly away from the memories. And then Shepard had come back again.

Seeing the man he thought he knew… he did not know what to say.

Shepard looked tired, stressed, he looked defeated and alone. And he honestly wanted to hear him out, he owed Shepard that much. But the bitterness over losing Shepard, seeing that he was working with Cerberus… venom poured out and he threw it all in Shepard’s face. He saw each slicing word cutting into Shepard, each one making the deadness in the marine’s eyes deepen and darken. Garrus had shouted, tried to throw some venom of his own, and the crazy tattooed chick had thrown a few cutting insults his way. But then Shepard lowered his gun and walked away, and seeing that nothing would draw the soldier back, they had followed after him, leaving him there.

And Shepard had left him again.

When he left to report to the Alliance, he kept thinking about those tattoos, and he just wanted to think see those beautiful pictures again as they moved across hardened muscles. A moving storybook of Shepard’s life that had probably been rewritten by Cerberus. And he did not know what bothered him most… what Cerberus had done to Shepard’s tattoos, or what had they done to Shepard. What had happened to the great man?

The whirlwind later, after the Collectors’ had been wiped from existence and Shepard had turned himself over to the Alliance, after the gruff first meeting after so many years, Shepard visiting him in the hospital after the crazy mech wrecked him, and then shooting Udina. After all the craziness finally settled, and Shepard has accepted him on the Normandy again, he saw that Cerberus brought back Shepard the way that he had been. The only thing they messed with was his body, adding a few extra bits where flesh, skin, bones and muscle tissue had been too damaged to heal.

Shepard had added his own bits along the way, heavy skin weaves and a few omni-tool and biotic upgrades, but it was still the same Shepard. The same Shepard that cared for his nonhuman crew as much as his human. The same Shepard who listened to hours to the stories that Garrus and Wrex had to share, who helped heft up Tali to help her reach tech that was out of her reach, who sat with him and laughed at stories of stupid stuff they did with kids. The same Shepard that sat and cried for hours after he had to leave Ash to die, when Mordin died, when Thane died, and the same Shepard that smiled and opened his heart when he poured out his.

But… he did not find out about the tattoos until he made a surprise visit to Shepard in his cabin. The marine was wearing only his boxers, and had laughed when he sputtered and tried to leave. He had invited him in, saying that he would make himself decent.

But, until Shepard slipped on his pants and a shirt, he saw that the tattoos were still there. The only thing was that they all looked new, and figured that no tattoo could survive the skin being burnt and torn away. Cerberus had probably gone to great lengths to getting them all redone, or gave Shepard the credits to get it done himself. And while they lacked the look of history that they had before, each tattoo was there again. All the images of different things that told the story that Shepard did not want to tell.

Shepard had teased for his ‘ogling’ and laughed when he turned red, but then placed a peck on his temple and urged him to follow him out.

He got a good chance to get at those tattoos when they got a bit of unexpected shore leave and one wacky adventure later. 

After smoothly charming the Commander with his cooking skills, ignoring the comments about burnt garlic, he was leaning against Shep while he idly read something on a datapad. Listening to the idle tapping as Shep read whatever he was reading, and feeling the warmth of his boyfriend’s body was soothing. 

He almost wanted to fall asleep, but then Shep shifted an arm around his shoulders, letting him see the map of tattoos from his elbow to wrist. The crisp lines and vivid colors showed him a forest of hues, leaves made of so many colors, with the occasional grey-scaled animal poking out from the exotic flora. It was hard to imagine a soldier getting something so colorful, as well as getting it done on his arms. But then again, it fit Shep in a weird way.

He gently trailed his fingertips along the colorful tattoos, trailing down the flora and down to the wrist. There, the colored leaves broke into rich brown bark and dark green vines, streamed with bits of color to gently diffuse the sudden change in color. The bark and vines wrapped around his palm and then around his fingers. On the top of the back of his hand was what looked like a Turian skull, but vines and roots were coming from cracks and the holes in the face. Tattooed underneath the skull in a gentle blue was the word ‘Rebirth’ in a fancy scrawl.

He dragged his fingers across the heavily tattooed skin. He traced the bold lines, the gentle shifting colors, the occasional scar that just seemed to blend into the design. Sheer chaos that was just...beautiful. It really did suit Shep.

“Like my ink?” Shep teased.

“Maybe. They’re interesting to say the least” He teased.

“To fit an interesting guy” Shep grinned.

“I’ll say”

And then he realized, this was the perfect opportunity to ask about the tattoos. To see what stories they held, to see perhaps how extensive they were…

“So… since I’ve got your mind on them, why do you have so many tattoos?” He asked, tracing a grey scaled monkey on the top of Shep’s arm.

“Hmm, I guess since I had so many when I was a kid. I had a lot of… inappropriate tattoos and had to get an ass ton to cover them up” Shep said, setting the datapad aside. 

He shifted a bit, pulling his arm from Kaidan’s grip and for a moment, the biotic thought that perhaps Shep did not want his past life dug into. He sat up, ready to drop the subject matter entirely, but then Shep straddled his legs and grinned down at him. He smirked up at the tattooed soldier.

“Inappropriate, eh? Like what?” He asked, his voice slightly gruff.

“Let’s see… I had a naked Asari tattooed down my right arm, damn she was hot” Shep said, idly listing off his old ink as he idly undid the buttons to the uniform that he wore so often “There was ‘Fuck Da Police’ scrawled across my shoulders, I believe that I had really beautifully detailed one, an attractive pair of marines in tight uniforms and the words ‘I swing both ways’ in a banner underneath. I also had ‘Bitch Beater’ tattooed on my right foot”

He should have been distracted by the list, but he was increasingly distracted with the fact that Shep was on his lap… and stripping. And when the top of the uniform had been peeled away, there was an undershirt in the way of any skin. Thankfully Shep remedied that by slowly and teasingly pulling it up and off of himself. And with the damned shirt out of the way he could see the tattoos across Shep’s impressive pectorals and upper chest. 

The flora continued to his shoulders, and from the colorful leaves sprang heavy industrial stylised tattoos. However, Shep’s abs were strangely blank of any ink, except some fancy scrawl on his right side that had a list of dearly departed.

He pressed his hands against Shep’s chest, enjoying when the muscles underneath the warm skin shuddered from his touch.

“Go on” He smirked.

“Let’s see… I also had ‘Blow Me’ tattooed around my belly button. Damn thing only worked once though” Shep laughed.

“Around your belly button, eh?” He teased “So… tell me Shep, how far does these tattoos go?”, hooking a few fingers into the marine’s belt and trying to tug it down. However, his hands were smacked before he could get those damned pants further down. While he yanked his hands back, Shep tutted him.

“What?” He groaned.

“Ah, look to your left, Alenko” Shep said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the large window that made up the wall in the apartment “I’m all for kinky, but exhibition ain’t something I’m into”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around Shep’s waist and pulled him closer.

“Are you proposing moving this to another room?”

Grinning, Shep shimmed off of his lap and tugged him up stairs. Along the way, he got to see that almost the entirety of Shep’s back was tattooed, except the edges. The machinery from the front continued up and over his shoulder and onto his back. Looking closer, he realized that the bars, wires, gears and metal beams roughly followed the bone and muscle structure of a human. It was like Shep say, underneath all the hardened flesh was the heart of a machine… ouch. He hoped that he had not been the inspiration for the tattoo.

Upstairs, Shep confidently strutted over to a small holo interface that probably controlled the room’s music setting. And seeing such an opportunity, he could not help but come up behind the marine. He placed his hands on Shep’s hips and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck.

“Come on, have a little patience” Shep practically purred “You’ll get a good show”

He did not answer, instead he continued to press kisses against the hard muscles of Shep’s neck, feeling them twitch under his mouth. Shep’s hips began to rock and twist slightly in his grip as Shep shuffled through the music, finding a rhythm to follow before his mind changed and followed that next one instead. One of his hands stayed on Shep’s hip, pressing firmly against the firm muscle underneath his fingers, the other strayed to the side. His fingers danced lightly across the waistband of Shep’s pants, seeking the small button hidden by a flap of cloth.

Shep found some music he liked, far too soon for the biotic, as Shep wriggled his way free of his grip and then gave a playful push. He ended up on the bed, legs hanging off the edge, but he could not be mad at Shep for long, not with the marine hitching his thumbs in his waistband. The unexpected result was the material sliding down just enough for Kaidan to see bits of blue from where Shep said he had a tattoo that had said ‘Blow Me’. He also saw the dark edges of what were probably tattoos on his hips.

“So, you wanna see my ink, do ya?” Shep drawled.

“Oh yeah”

“Then just lay there and enjoy the show, Major” Shep grinned.

The boots and socks were tossed without ceremony, probably since the only ink Shep had on his feet was the words ‘ASS KICKER’ done on all capital letters and done a dark Alliance blue on his right foot.

“So… how is that any better then bitch beater?”

“It’s not really, but they wanted it cleaned up a bit and it got okay-ed before anyone could stop me” Shep chuckled “Besides, I am an ass kicker, so it all works out”

The next thing to go was the buttons to his pants and the pushed down a bit. He could make out some greys and thick black lines and the dark material of Shep’s briefs, but those damned pants were still in the way of anything good.

“Surprised you haven’t asked about why I chose metal and plants” Shep teased.

“I assumed because it was to cover up the Asari and you opinion about authority”

“That too, but I kinda like the idea about symbiotic relations between machine and organic life” Shep said, hooking his thumbs into his belt and pushing it down just a little bit more “I guess more so now that I’m a shining beacon of it. Official cyborg and treaty broker between the Geth and the Quarians”

He reached out and placed his hands on Shep’s, brushing his thumbs against the tattooed backs of the marine’s. Pressing down, he encouraged Shep’s hand downwards, dragging his pants down with it. The worn material was dragged down, revealing that the Commander was indeed wearing black briefs and that tattoos from Shep’s back split and went down his hips and down the length of his legs, ending at the ankle. 

Like on his arms, tree roots turned into bark and trees, exploding into colorful leaves mid thigh. And from the leaves stemmed the metal pipes, gears and wires that were on Shep’s upper chest and shoulders. The symbiotic relationship of machine and organic life.

“So, all the way down” He breathed, eyeing the artwork as well as the defined muscles they were on. His hands, unsure what to do, settled on Shep’s hips.

“So, does this answer your question, Major?” Shep smirked, crossing his arms across his chest.

His eyes lingered on the black material of Shep’s briefs, how the tattoos disappeared underneath them. And he wondered idly what they hid.

“Almost… what’s underneath these?” He asked, tugging on the tight material.

“My, my Major? Are you asking a Specter to get buck ass naked?” Shep teased.

“Well, I’ve gotten you this far. Why not go all the way?”

Grinning, Shep allowed him to slide down the material slowly. As they slid, he saw that the blue was the Specter logo tattooed underneath his belly button, probably covering the ‘Blow Me’ tattoo. Though it did bring to question what was there BEFORE he was a Specter. But his thoughts could not linger there, his hands were already almost impulsively pushing the material down further.

Pushing the briefs down further yielded the first few hairs that lead downward and revealed the tops of the ink on Shep’s hips. Looking at coloring, the fake texture, and the shapes that he could see, he saw that they were large gears. 

And as much as he wanted to see them more, he realized that there was something far more distracting. Shep’s dick was starting to push against the material, meaning that the little show was getting him all hot and bothered. And well, seeing as it was his fault, he figured that he should do something about it. But he also wanted to see if Shep’s… intimate areas were tattooed as well.

Dragging the briefs down further let Shep’s half hard prick spring free. The cheeky bastard only grinned shamelessly as his briefs were pulled down all the way and wiggled out of. With the damned things out of the way, he saw that indeed that Shep’s hips had large gears tattooed on them. Wires and metal beams held them up out of the colorful foliage on his upper thighs. However, Shep’s growing erection held no ink.

But, with those troublesome clothes out of the way, there was planes of inked skin just begging to be touched and explored. And with hands that shook slightly, he started exploring with slow joy. He did not want to come off as ‘desperate groping pervert’ by simply groping frantically, God knew how much Shep would tease and taunt him over that. No, he wanted to come off as loving and caring. It proved the better route, as he dragged his fingers across the sharp crease of Shep’s hips and pelvis, Shep took in a shaky and deep breath and his dick twitched in excitement.

He moved one of his hands inwards, just enough that he could drag his thumb across the blue Specter tattoo, watching Shep’s evident excitement jump. He dragged his fingers across the lines of the gears on Shep’s hips, over the colorful leaves on his thighs, traced the bark and animals on his knees and then dragged his nails back up to Shep’s hips.

“So, you seem to like my ink” Shep breathed “Want me to… put my clothes back on?”

“No” He said flatly.

“Thought so, but I feel awfully alone being the only naked guy in the room” Shep teased.

Throwing a smirk up at the tattooed marine, he scooted back and then dragged Shep down and into his lap. Shep’s fingers found his shoulders as he sat down comfortably, wiggling his hips teasingly. And with his new lowered position, he can now touch the tattoos across Shep’s upper chest and shoulders.

He dragged his fingers across the machinery across Shep’s impressive pectorals, across hardened muscles of his shoulders. He found several scars hidden among the vivid pictures, only visible to the touch, the slight raise in the skin, the strange texture among smooth, slightly dry and oh so warm skin. He could smell the slight musk coming off of Shep’s skin, the smell of metal, sweat and something earthy and warm.

“Looks like someone else is excited” Shep teased.

So lost in the delight sitting on his lap, he almost missed the growing bulge in his pants. He stared down, mortified at the damned thing. But then Shep rocked his hips downward, grinning like the cat that got the cream, idly making Kaidan wonder if it was uncomfortable rubbing it against the material.

“Let’s get you out of those clothes, Major”

His hands did not want to leave Shep’s skin, too busy trying to trace the patterns of the tattoos and enjoying the warmth. But Shep did not seem to mind, as he slowly worked his fingers across Kaidan’s shirt, finding the buttons with ease and slowly easing them undone. 

After about the third button, Shep leaned down, pressing their foreheads together. The tattooed marine smirked down at him, slowly licking his bottom lip and then the top. One of his hands trailed upwards, finger hooking around Shep’s thick neck, and yanked his head downwards and pressed their lips together. Shep’s lips were slightly dry, a nice contrast against his smoother ones.

The last few buttons were done with a bit more haste as their lips moved restlessly away from one another. Shep was pressing harder and rougher, still not parting his mouth. It seemed that Shep wanted to make their first time special-

Wait… it was their first time. He almost had not noticed. Being with Shep, was just so comfortable, so normal. And after all the years together, being friends and now more than that, it just seemed right. Strange, in all the right ways.

The top layer of his uniform was peeled away, gently brushed off. They broke for a moment to tear his undershirt off. Shep pressed their chests together, humming as their heartbeats thumped together for a moment, and then pulled away so that his hands could undo the buttons too his pants. As soon as the obstacle was out of the way, Shep shoved a hand into his pants, calloused fingers rubbing against his half hard cock. He grunted, retaliating by rubbing along Shep’s hips and lower back. He felt the marine smile against his lips, devious as always.

Finally, finally, he felt Shep’s tongue swiped along his lips. He parted his lips willingly, letting Shep press his tongue forward into his mouth. He tasted the lingering tastes of dinner and beer on his tongue, thankfully faint, and pressed forward against Shep’s tongue. As it seemed with the rest of Shep’s soldier hardened body, his tongue was more dominant and stronger, easily pushing back and even playfully pinning it. And while their kisses grew progressively sloppier and sloppier, Shep’s hands was doing other devious things.

Pulling his hand back, Shep urged him out of his pants, tugging incessantly until he finally helped. It was hard with him sitting and Shep sitting on him, but little by little, they managed to wiggle him out of pants, getting them at least down and pushed to his knees. And after that hurdle, they got him out of his underwear. And with them out of the way, Shep lowered himself back onto his lap and then rocked his hips forward.

The rub of hardening flesh against one another made them both gasp into the kiss. He felt his face and skin flush warmly as the warm tingles of pleasure licked up and down his spine. A warmth gathered in the pit of his stomach and-

Shep suddenly pulled away.

“Shit, how are we going to do this?”

For several moments, Kaidan was unsure what Shep meant. And then he remembered what the extranet had told him of sex between two guys. That there was a top and a bottom, the latter getting the it in the arse from the top. So Shep meant… who was going to be what. And that was a very good question to ask.

Shep was the first guy that he wanted that way. There was a dirty and rough fling in a back alley that one time, but that had only been a lot of rutting and groping with no actual penetration. And he had lost that crazy boy years ago. And honestly, the extranet told him nothing concrete about the whole top and bottom situation, except that whoever was the most experienced should be the one setting the roles. But if Shep was just as clueless as him…

Shep’s hips grinded downwards, making him shudder and lose his train of thought. He rocked his hips upwards, making them both groan and moan. Shep’s fingers were digging into his shoulders, his mouth open as he panted. He planted a kiss on Shep’s warm cheek, trying to not seem clueless. Just… hesitant.

“Well… what do you want, Shep?” He breathed.

“You, anyway I can get it” Shep panted.

Umm…

His useless hands came up, rubbing soothing circles into Shep’s back as their hips rocked firmly against one another. He pressed their lips together again, trying to distract the marine before he realized just how awkward this was about to be. He did not come this far for it to end up not happening at all.

Their rocking became firmer and less coordinated as they gently made their way toward orgasm. Shep gasped into the kiss occasionally, rocking stuttering in rhythm. He felt the scrape of teeth against his lip and almost instinctively bit Shep’s bottom lip playfully. Shep’s usually cocky laughter was a lot weaker and breathier than usual.

He rocked a little too hard when he felt his muscles bunch. And he wondered vaguely how much longer he could keep stalling-

Shep pulled away with a sheepish smile.

“Neither of us know what we’re doing, do we?” He laughed breathlessly.

Seeing the hopeless expression on Shep’s face, he sighed and wrapped his arms around Shep’s torso and pulled him closer.

“Honestly, not really”

“Well, that’s just like us. Rushing into something without really knowing what we’re doing” Shep sighed, knocking their foreheads together.

“Yeah, but we’re always had spectacular results, right?” He smirked.

“True, very true” Shep purred.

And then a devious smile crossed his face.

“It’s obvious that we want this, so how about a worry free alternative” Shep grinned.

“You and you’re alternatives. What have you got in mind?” He smiled.

Shep adjusted himself in his lap, seating himself more firmly and scooting forward. With his new position, they were pressed firmly against one another. With a shuddering breath, Shep wrapped both of his hands around themselves and stroked his joined hands. That caused them to moan together, heat starting to come back. Their mouths joined again, rougher and wetter than before, the restless slide of rough lips and clash of slippery tongues and teeth.

The rough pad of Shep’s thumb swiped across the head of his cock, making the muscles in his legs go taunt. Another swipe and again his muscles went taunt. His chest was starting to heave with each breath, sweat forming across his skin as the heat of pleasure grew inside of him. He pressed rougher and harder kisses against Shep’s lips, growing more and more fevered in his need for release.

To his surprise, Shep seemed to become more… submissive. He felt Shep go soft in his arms, a bundle of jellified muscles and tech. The marine let his mouth get used so roughly, shuddering with each nibble of teeth, hands losing rhythm and speed, and his moans becoming more frequent and louder. Eventually he had to smack Shep’s hands away from their aching pricks, wrapping his hands around them and rubbing them himself.

He felt Shep stiffen, gasping and trembling as both of their muscles started to clench and unclench in the throes of their coming release.

“Kaaaiii” Shep moaned.

He rubbed more harshly, far too fast and sloppy with simply need. But hearing Shep’s strained voice made him want all the more. And he was so close.

Shep suddenly went taunt in his lap, suddenly moaning loudly. And he felt something hot and sticky on his fingers, the sensation finally throwing him off the edge as well. His muscles went taut and his own seed joined Shep’s on his hands. He pumped his hands a few more times to ride out the pleasure, making Shep buck and groan deeply.

They sat for a moment, enjoying the mubing warmth of what had just happened, breathing heavily. 

And then Shep’s mouth pressed a kiss against his forehead.

“Pretty good alternative, eh?” He panted.

He smiled before tugging the marine down for a gentle kiss

“Yeah, that was pretty nice”


End file.
